OK, so I just tried the combo on a piece of scrap, and the results were pretty shiesty..I don't know if I like the stain, as it's still a nasty colour...my guess is that the birch is really white, compared to other wood species, so there's no yellow in the wood to compliment the stain. What about oils? I can try it with tung oil tomorrow.

Hello cyberspyder, Again, I think you should try the spar urethane. Someone here mentioned their disdain for Minwax products. I cannot speak for all Minwax products, as I have not used them all. However, the Helmsan Spar Urethane has done great for me. If you apply it correctly, it should not produce a "blotchy" finish. I have never seen it produce any blotches on a wide variety of materials. As I said, it has a slight Amber to its appearence, but this can be desireable on lighter woods for sure. It provides a finish much tougher than stains. You can stain first and topcoat with the SU if you want to darken the wood, but I would try it bare first. I believe it comes in three different textures, flat, satin(good choice for speakers), and gloss. I mostly have used the satin, but whatever the case, each has served it's purpose well. I have some items that are over 15 years old that show no yellowing or degredation of the substrate, despite their constant daily exposure to sunlight. Have fun. -discreteouts

Hi, I should have been more specific on my Miniwax comment. I meant specifically the miniwax stains that you may want to avoid. I use Miniwax poly and Miniwax wax on some projects. My personal experience has been that the MW stains do not give as even of a finish. If you can find Cabot or Zar stains (I have no professional involvement in either brand) and give them a try you should see an obvious difference. C & Z stains seem to be slower drying and are more oily, while the miniwax is watery, splashy and soaks into the wood very quickly.

OK, so I tried the tung oil today, and I must say that it's a better finish overall..I would get the spar urethane, but they're out of stick at the closest HD, so why not just stick with what I got? Will return the stains today, here are some pics:

I hope you are able to achieve results that are pleasing to your eye, they are your's after all.

That being said, I will describe an alternative, one you are free to reject.

This is only one way of doing this and I'm sure others have different ways.

Start with sanding to 200/220, then apply a "spit coat" of half shellac and half alcohol ( not Isopropol, but methanol ). If you want to start to add a warmer tone use amber shellac. When this dries, sand it again to same as the start to remove any raised grain. Put on another spit coat, let it dry. light steel wool to smooth or go a little finer sandpaper, then wipe down and apply a gel stain to your taste in color. steel wool again and wipe on two coats of poly, light buff with the steel wool optional between coats.

The shellac will fill the grain somewhat, but won't seal it, so it will take the stain. The Gel stain can be wiped on and is easy to control the color intensity.

Hey, how are you going to make the hole for the midwoofer?
I was looking around at what tools I can use, and I was wondering if I could just use a 4" hole-saw to drill it, instead of using a router with a jig (one of these - just bigger). Does anyone know if this would work?

Hole saws that big can cost a lot of money compared to a router bit. Personally i find the router easier to use because the hole saw can get clogged with sawdust easily, and it can splinter a veneer.

If you make a circle cutting jig for the router it cuts the hole really fast. Also if your using a router, don't cut all the way through, leave ~1mm of extra wood to hold the center chunk and punch it out after cutting.

well, the 4" hole saw costs 20 bucks, I don't think I can build a jig + buy router bits for much cheaper than that...
also I'm not going to be drilling through veneer. It would seem to me like it would be faster to just center the drill bit, and drill down, than to route around the hole....